Even Sakura Blossoms Wither
by WhenYouFell
Summary: Sakura's memory of her friends' death's have faded from the dark recesses of her mind only to be... Full summary in the story, sequel to Crimson Melancholy ItaSaku.


**hey, got this request to do a sequel to 'Crimson Melancholy,' so here it is. perhaps **

**if I get enough reviews for it i'll make more chapters, but for now. Let's just call this **

**a one-shot. ItaSaku. **

**oohh... i'd also like to acknowledge and thank the following people for **

**reviewing.**

**nahx- Thank-you, thank you very much. Here's the sequel, enjoy!**

**Cyndi1-Muahahaha... fear my evil puppy-dog eyes rotflmao. Ahem... Anyway, perhaps **

**i'll make a prequel... i'll think about it, but for now, here's a sequel!**

**Sachmet -Thank- you, wasn't Itachi adorable? lol.**

**Shuki- XD. oops... I knew I forgot something. but don't worry, i'll put it in this**

**story.**

**mugiwara-franky- heh, here's that sequel. hope you enjoy this one too, though I**

**would like to warn that this one is really sad.**

**xsangox- gah... sequels are troublesome... just don't cry on this one kay? Oh and**

**btw, I have nothing against SakuSasu just that I can't believe that Sakura would **

**still go after him when he just hurt her like that. ne? Also, the forbbiden fruit **

**always did taste sweeter right?**

**Desumegami- arigatou, i'll check out ur fics too. oh, btw, this ones gonna be **

**sad too... Oh well...**

**Midnight-Miko66-lol, guess i'm a sucker for itachi stuff too. Gahh! I want an **

**Itachi plushie pouts.**

**sasukerocks- ahh... thanks, I was intending it to only be depressive and stuff but **

**I guess I couldn't resist putting some sweet stuff in there. Lol.**

**Full summary **

** Sakura's memory of her friends' death's have faded from the dark recesses **

**of her mind only to be replaced with the thoughts of the future and happiest moments **

**of her life with friends and family. She and Itachi are now rebuilding the clan, a dream **

**that many had thought only the younger Uchiha posessed. But yet again, Tradgedy **

**strikes the Uchiha clan.**

**Disclaimer**

**I do not own Naruto... sob. oh well... oh ya, I also do not own the song 'gravity'**

**by Yoko Kanno on the Wolf's rain soundtrack.**

"talking"

thinking

_flashback_

-song-

you get the point.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Even Sakura Blossoms Wither 

She screamed, white-hot flames of pain engulfed her entire being as more contractions

ravaged her tired body. Even with her ninja stamina, her strength was fading. For five slow

and agonizing hours she had lay on the stained hospital bed screaming out in pain. Akatsuki

medical staff trying to soothe her frayed nerves. They ran around fretting and panicking, this only

worsened her worry.

_"Saaakkuuuurrraaa-cchhhhaaann! Let's go to Ichiraku!"_

_"Naruto! Stop dragging me! I am NOT paying for your ramen again! I almost went broke last _

_time!"_

_"umm... hehe... sorry?"_

_WHACK!_

_"..itai!..."_

_"hmph! That's what you get!"_

_"...dobe..."_

_"What did you just call me!"_

_"dobe."_

_"Sasuke-teme!"_

_WHACK!_

_"..itai! but Sakura-chhhaaannn! Sasuke bastard started it!"_

_WHACK! _

_WHACK!_

_"Oww! why the hell did you hit me!"_

_"...itai..."_

_"Hmph! You two are worse than children. You know that?"_

_"I am not!"_

_"... hn..."_

_"Shut up. Let's go get that ramen... i'm hungry."_

_"HAI SAKURA-CHAN!"_

_"hn."_

She felt Itachi's chakra just outside the door, and would have laughed if the situation were

different. She could tell that he was pacing and was extremely nervous. I mean, come on people,

he was an s-class criminal, not really the type to be a natural father. She winced as another wave of

pain engulfed her being. She could tell that Deidara and Kisame where at least trying to calm him

down. Out of all the Akatsuki, Sakura had found that Deidara was the nicest and most emotional.

A panicked voice brought her out of her musings.  
"Please Sakura-san, push!"  
The air was pierced by her pain filled scream.

_"Hey! forehead girl!"_

_"What Ino-pig!"_

_"What did you just call me!"_

_"INO-PIG, INO-PIG!"_

_"SHUT UP FOREHEAD GIRL!"_

_"MAKE ME!" sakura taunted, _

_sticking out her tongue._

_Ino turned red with anger, _

_stomping on the ground._

_"AT LEAST i DON'T HAVE A _

_BIG FOREHEAD LIKE YOU!_

_SASUKE WOULD NEVER LIKE _

_A GIANT FOREHEAD LIKE _

_YOURS!"_

_They had both run home. Tears_

_streaming down both faces._

"Please Itachi-san! You can't come in here!" It was that samepanicked voice from before.

"LET ME GO KISAME! AND YOU!GET OUT OF MY WAY WHAT THE HELL

ARE YOU DOING TO MY WIFE!"They had gotten married only a few months before.

It was such a beautiful spring wedding.

Another contraction forced her to yell out in pain. Itachi had been restrained to a chair, rope

tied around his form. She pushed, hard, the pain went up in rippled waves throughout her entire body.

Another medic nin at her side, the medic nin was female, red hair, stormy blue eyes,she was currently

an obviously more experienced nin. Her soothing voice broke through her shattered mind.

"That's right hun. Keep pushing! Kid's almost out now!" Her lightly  
wrinkled face in view once more. She was smiling.  
"Come on now, I can see his or her head already. You can do it!" Her  
encouraging voice was kind and calmed her down considerably. The  
woman's name was Tohru, and Sakura had considered her as a motherly  
figure.

_"Kakahi-sensei! Your late!"_

_"YEAH!" Naruto nodded. _

_"What Sakura-chan said!"_

_"hehe... I got lost on the road of life?"_

_"LIAR!"_

_"LIAR!"_

_"um... so... let's start training?"_

_"YEAH!"_

_"sigh... Kakashi-sensei?"_

_"hm?"_

_WHACK!_

_"Don't try to worm your way out of this!"_

_"... oww..."_

_"Sakura... "_

_"hai?"_

_"That was so meeeaaannnn!" _

_kakashi exclaimed, pouting._

_Sakura sighed in exasperation._

Sweat was covering her entire body, she groaned and pushed again and again. The sound of a

child crying resounded. Tohru sighed, glad that the birth was over, she took the child, cleaning and

wrapping _him _in a fresh, warm blanket. The worn, old woman placed the child in his mother's arms,

whispering a gentle, "congratulations... It's a boy." The door banged open as a livid Itachi forced his-

self into the room, rope still lightly draped lightly around him as Kisame and Deidara lay unconcious

behind him.

_"Tsunade-sama..."_

_"Hai Sakura, is there something you need?"_

_"h-hai... I've decided to take you up on that offer."_

_Tsunade beamed at her new student._

_"Aa... I'm very glad to hear that Sakura. When would you_

_like to start lessons?"_

_"Ano... Anytime is good Tsunade-shisou."_

_Tsunade smiled again. _

_She would be a good student, _

_Sakura had great chakra _

_control for a medic nin, _

_and would most likely be _

_even more powerful than _

_her after she had completed_

_the training. _

_"Sakura?"_

_"h-hai?"_

_she was nervous._

_"Are you sure about this? The training will be very intense."_

_She became more determined,_

_"hai Tsunade-shisou. I'm positive."_

_"good, your first training session will be on the next Sunday._

_meet me here at six o' clock sharp."_

_"Hai."_

Itachi stood there in utter shock. Sakura let out a light giggle and beckoned him to her side,

he complied numbly. His hands lightly shaking he gently stroked the childs hair, making him giggle

lightly, deep forest green eyes twinkling in mirth. His ebony hair was a soft bundle of fuzz atop his

head. The child grabbed lightly onto Itach's hand, well, finger anyways. Making Itachi smile, a bit

nervously of course.

"Aaa. Itachi-kun?" she said quietly.

"h-h-ha-hai?" he replied in a shaky voice.

She smiled reasurringly,

"what would you like to name him?"

"n-ne?"

She giggled lightly at the missing-nin's behaviour, once again

repeating herself.

"What would you like to name him?"

"Aa... S-Sasuke..?" he muttered looking to his wife.

She nodded, once again reassuring him. She had known that he had cared

for his younger sibling.

"mm... okay, would you like to hold him?"

"eh! But... But I don't know how!"

She giggled again.

"here, like this," She murmured softly placing the child in his father's arms

in the correct position.

"So... small... i'm afraid he'll break.." he said weakly.

She moved over on the be, patting the now empty space next to herself for him

to sit down.

He complied.

_"Fight me."_

_"Sasuke bastard! What the hell are you doing!"_

_"FIGHT ME!"_

_Sasuke threw a punch. _

_Naruto dodged to the side, _

_reluctant to fight his friend. _

_But he HAD hurt Sakura-chan._

_Why had he done that?_

_Sakura had only wanted to help._

_why was he doing this? _

_sure, Sakura had always hurt him, but, she_

_was the only one who had acknowledged _

_him._

_Anger built up and exploded._

_they attacked each other._

_"CHIDORI!"_

_the battle had been cut short._

_Kakashi had stopped them_

The heart moniter began to beep loudly. Sakura felt so tired, so cold. It was

harder to breathe then, she felt as if she were drifting away. Itachi panicked, calling

a medic nin over to immediately check on her. Sakura had turned pale and her breaths

were ragged and strained. The nin went into a frenzy, calling others over.

"What's going on!" He nearly yelled.

"Sir, i'm sorry, but... She won't stop bleeding. She could die."

A voice said calmly.

Itachi looked towards Tohru, the adoptive mother had tears shimmering

in her eyes.

"N... NO... YOUR LYING!"

he shouted frantically.

"sh... she was fine a moment ago! sh-"

"Uchiha-san. I'm afraid I have to ask you to go outside,"

Tohru murmured soothingly.

"No." Itachi calmly took Sakura in his arms, while she merely smiled

weakly at him.

"I refuse to leave her here to alone."

"But sir-" the nurse at Tohru's side began,

"It's all right... He can stay." Tohru smiled and began to work, forcing chakra

into Sakura's slowly withering body.

Itachi cradled Sakura against him, Sasuke at one side, whispering to her to hold

on, just to survive for their child, if she would not for him.

_"Itachi?"_

_"Sakura. What do you want."_

_"I'm bored and i'm restless. Spar me."_

_he raised an eyebrow,_

_"nani?"_

_"You heard me, spar me. S-P-A-R space M-E."_

_"i'm not deaf, kunoichi. But do you honestly think-_

_that a weak excuse for a ninja such as yourself -_

_could beat me?"_

_She twitched. _

_In konoha, she had been the weak one._

_In konoha, she was always last, being overshadowed_

_by all others._

_She had hated it._

_"Shut the hell up."_

_A kunai slithered in an inhuman speed landing dangerously_

_close to the tip of his nose between his fingers._

_Sakura stalked away, another sparring partner_

_was needed._

_Inner Sakura was screaming for blood. _

_Itachi frowned, nobody had talked the way she had to him and lived._

_So why was she the exception?_

_The thought of killing her hadn't even crossed his mind._

Sakura sighed, she felt so happy, a blanket of warmth surounded her, and

for just a moment, she had been oblivious to Itachi's pain. He was still whispering,

begging her and the gods to spare her life. She was brought back to reality when a

sharp gasp resounded in the room. Tohru had been murmuring to herself crying as

the other nurse tried to console her. Itachi's rare tears spilled across her shoulder

as he wept, Sasuke looked on worriedly at his father.

She hated to see those close to her heart suffer.

So she did what she could to console them in her state.

...She sang...

_-Been a long road to follow,_

_Been there and gone tomorrow,_

_Without saying goodbye to yesterday._

_Are the memories I hold still valid?_

_Or have the tears deluded them?_

_Maybe this time tomorrow,_

_The rain will cease to follow,_

_And the mist will fade into one more today._

_Something somewhere out there keeps calling..._

_Am I going home?_

_Will I hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?_

_Zero gravity, what's it like?_

_Am I alone?_

_Is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet?_

_Still the road keeps on telling me to go on,_

_Something is pulling me._

_I feel the gravity of it all.- _

After years of contentment, after years of guilt,

and hatred and death. She finally saw them.

Naruto,

Hinata,

Shikamaru,

Ino,

Chouji,

Neji,

Kakashi,

Lee,

TenTen,

Shino,

Kiba.

She was home, and yet a deep longing within her arose as a sharp child's

cry reached her ears. She was torn between emotions and sobbed on the delicate

clouds as her friends rushed to comfort her. She wanted to go back, to see, to

touch her love, to watch their child grow, to be there. Sakura clawed desperately

at the soft cloud, that would merely twist and turn underneath her fingers in

soft shimmering swirls.

_She stood by Ino's bed, _

_unable to do anything nor help her as she dies._

_As she faded away._

_She was leaving her, just like the other's had done._

_She would never forgive Ino-pig for that._

_Yet it was all her fault._

_It was all her fault that Ino was dying, that_

_everyone else had died._

_All her fault._

All she felt was pain, while Itachi just held onto her body as the warmth

slowly began to fade from it. He refused to let go, he refused to believe that she

was dead. Never in his entire life had he felt so alone, so forgotten. Sasuke's wails

grew louder, turning into a deafening symphony. But Itachi was numb to it all, he

felt nothing, She had broken her promise.

_Sakura and Itachi lay in each other's arms,_

_safely watching distant clouds underneath the_

_shade of the sakura tree. The tree whose shade_

_only slightly warded off the immense heat of _

_summer._

_"Ne? Itachi-kun?"_

_"Hai."_

_"Do you- do you love me?"_

_"ne?"_

_she sighed._

_"nevermind, it was a silly question."_

_"Sakura-"_

_"Don't worry about it, I was being stupid and-"_

_"Sakura-"_

_"I shouldn't have asked such a ridiculos question it's just-"_

_His lips landed softly on hers, forcing her to stop talking._

_Her eyes widened, the kiss felt so right, yet so wrong._

_The kiss was the sweetest thing she had ever experienced, she_

_closed her eyes. The scent of cinnamon invading her senses._

_The forbidden fruit always did taste so much sweeter._

_They parted for air._

_"I-Itachi-kun?"_

_her eyes were wide, curious and so damn hopeful._

_"W-Why did you do t-that?"_

_"I love you."_

_"n-ne?"_

_He smirked at her expression, but was soon knocked over_

_by an overly cheerful kunoichi._

_"Don't ever leave me, okay? Itachi-kun?_

_don't ever break my heart..."_

_He lifted her chin._

_"never."_

_a light gentle kiss was placed on her lips._

_"Don't ever leave me, okay kunoichi?"_

_she giggled._

_"I won't."_

_"good."_

_**"I love you."**_

_**"don't ever break my heart..."**_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

sooo... did you like it? love it? please review! oh, and by the way, tell me

if you guys want me to make a prequel or just something that shows how

they developed feelings for each other...

now. REVIEW! please... And... and if you don't... I'll.. i'll CRY! no, jk.

But I will send my army of pocky demons after you. -giggles- so please

review!


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